Cause and Effect – Prologue

Today’s Music: The Sword – Arrows In The Dark
Note on Today’s Post: This has been taking up real estate in my head for too long, so I thought I’d let it out. Gonna need a better title though…EXTERIORNew Zealand
The camera dollies slowly through the FOREST. The lush landscape of the forest is alive in hues of green and brown, sun dappling through the leaves casting light on the forest floor. The dolly continues as the camera slowly pans right. The lens begins to zoom in, catching insects and birds moving along the trees and through the air.
As the dolly continues, the camera closes on a juncture of BRANCHES and zooms in

VOICEOVERThey say that everything is interconnected, that all events flow into each other, affect other events and are affected by them.

The camera zooms in tightly to the juncture where we see a COCOON, It is shaking on the branches, a small rift appearing at the front bulge. A pair of antennae, followed by a long body and bright WINGS appears.

VOICEOVERThat something as simple as the flap of the wings of a butterfly here can stir the winds of a hurricane there.

The BUTTERFLY emerges and flies off. It’s brightly colored WINGS sparkle in the flashes of sunlight. The camera follows its irregular flight, wavering between close and medium distance

VOICEOVERIt flaps its wings rapidly, enough thrust to lift its body through the air, pushing it against currents, pressure, eddies…

A powerful THRUST and we see the force of the small SWIRL OF AIR. The butterfly leaves the frame of the camera which continues onward, following the swirl of air.
Some LEAVES fall together, wafting in one direction. The SWIRL nudges one, pushing it in a different direction. The camera follows the swirl to the edge of the island and across the water.

VOICEOVEROnce it has begun, the stir from the wings of that butterfly take on a life of its own. It travels free, picking up momentum, affecting what it runs into…

We see WHITECAPS moving with the current. As the SWIRL intersects, one breaks off, moving away at a different angle, pushed by the swirl.

VOICEOVERThe force of nature, the inexorable, inevitable push and pull, back and forth of different forces competing, opposing, uniting drives on and grow in the strength of its cycle…

The WHITECAP and SWIRL are entwined, dancing around each other. They grow in strength and frenzy. Other SWIRLS join, other WHITECAPS come in. They push against each other, unite and break away. The camera pulls back to a longer shot so we can see the pattern, whipping around faster and faster, reaching up from the waves to the sky

VOICEOVERThey say the wings of a butterfly someplace can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world.

The view zooms in to a tight shot. The WIND howls and the WAVES crash over and over on each other, stronger and stronger, more and more furiously until-

VOICEOVERThey’re full of shit. Butterflies don’t cause hurricanes…

The camera speeds back in a birds-eye shot as the WIND and WATER crash into a cliff and splash back to the surface. The camera continues up to the side of a cliff…and a MAN on a MOTORCYCLE looking down. The camera slows, still rising above him as he looks down at the settling water.
Camera changes to medium shot on his bald head. He lifts his head from watching the water and we see a SNEER on his lips beneath his SUNGLASSES. Zipping the BEAT UP LEATHER JACKET over his FADED JEANS and MOTORCYCLE BOOTS, he kicks the motorcycle to life, revs the engine and speeds away. The camera focuses on the SWIRL from his exhaust

This was great. I liked that the story worked in at least two ways. There was the (I believe) intended message about climate change, but I think someone could miss that altogether and appreciate the story from a bizarrely absurdist viewpoint (“I’m so badass I cause hurricanes” ala Chuck Norris).

Confession: I like butterflies.

And if you need someone to do the voiceover for you, I know a guy. Great voice. Sexy? And how!

This is a great piece of writing as it draws one’s attention whilst the imagination ignites with an eager expectation, visualising each encounter, almost touching upon the waves as the ebb and flow tilts the lens.

The rhythm thrusting every angle to the edge of refraction, feeding creativity into light bending to form spectacular scenes, likened to reflections of the mind upon a blank canvas, until synthesised masterpieces emerge enriching the soul where a blend near perfection is realised.

I like it! Get that stuff outcha head and down on paper. Yanno, these butterflies have a hold on so many cultures. The Hopi Indians believe the butterfly lives in their art and music, and basically everything else. Of course, the Hopis ain’t running low on peyote, so there’s that.

I was falling for the voiceover, it was kind of mysterious and tethering on romantic until the penultimate voiceover. It doused the starry starry thoughts that was emerging. Wow! cold water. Shish! LOL!!!

I’ll have to see if I can find you an image of a rider on a particular bike – basically paired wheels front and back with a Viper 8-litre V-10 in between. The engine is so massive, the rider literally lays on top of it when driving. Now THAT is a motorcycle to cause earthquakes! (Well, except for that one my people left me. Pity you humans haven’t invented hypersonic wave nullifiers. And a big “whoops” to Pakistan, though I hope that new island makes up for it. 😉 )